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If Atlanta can improve on its defense, they should have
plenty of scoring to make them a potent team in the East.
in assists per game, handing out 24.9 (only San
Antonio, where Budenholzer spent 19 years,
17 as an assistant coach, had more apgs at,
25.2). The Hawks had at least 20 assists 74
times, at least 25 in 41 games and at least 30
on 13 occasions. They were 12-1 in the latter.
But the number 13 wasn’t necessarily lucky, as
that’s where they finished in both field goal
percentage (.45.7) and three-point field goal
percentage (.363), which led to a 14th-place
finish in scoring (101.0 ppg).
Atlanta basically lived and died by its ability
to make the three and on the whole they lived
quite well, canning 768 three-pointers, going
for double-digit threes 35 times, including
a stretch of eight straight games—all club
records. Korver was the big gun, hitting 185
Scott Cunningham/NBAE/Getty Images
three-pointers, the fifth-best season in Atlanta
history, and set an NBA record by hitting at
least one in 127 consecutive games. Center
Antic added 56 threes, the second-most by a
rookie club history. The three-pointer was so
infectious that even Millsap buried 76 of them
in 212 tries—he’d been 35-for-113 in his first
seven NBA seasons.
When the three wasn’t falling, however, the
Hawks struggled. With Antic mostly stationed
behind the arc and Millsap spending some
time out there as well, points in the paint were
limited (Atlanta was 16th), as were offensive
rebounds, as the Hawks averaged 8.7 orpg.
While that was one more per game than
Eastern Conference champs Miami, it was only
29th in the League and didn’t quite compensate
for disparity in field goal percentage—the
Hawks shot 45.7 vs. Miami’s 50.1.
Spreading the floor did open things up for
Teague, who in his fifth season averaged a
career-best 16.7 points while handing out 6.7
assists. Teague went for 13 double-doubles,
including a streak of four games in a row
for the first time since 1993 (when Mookie
Blaylock did it). Teague and dynamic secondyear
pro Dennis Schröder will have plenty
of options, in Millsap, Korver, Horford, Antic,
Carroll, who had 11.3 points in 73 starts, both
career-bests, and third-year pros Mike Scott,
and John Jenkins, who missed most of the
year with injuries but need to be more careful
with the ball, as their 14.5 turnovers were ninthhighest
in the League.
Outlook
The Hawks’ near-miss in their first-round
playoff series against Indiana ended the first
year of the Mike Budenholzer Era with high
hopes for Year Two. Those hopes are still there
even with the off-season PR nightmare, and
nothing cures a crisis quite like winning.
The Hawks can be explosive and a
defensive nightmare. But changing “can be” to
“are” is a matter of consistency, especially in
shooting and cutting down turnovers. Atlanta
needs to show that if it is to have any chance
of staying near the top of the very tough and
improving Southeast Division.
A healthy Horford, the ever-consistent
Korver and the ascending play of Teague
should push this team above .500, while Millsap
and Carroll, both in contract years, keep the
Hawks in the race for the Southeast and the
playoffs. The bench and the bigs need to bring
it every night, as margin for error is slight.
SPOTLIGHT:
Paul Millsap
When the Atlanta Hawks acquired Millsap prior to last season, they knew they were getting a special player—he averaged a near-doubledouble
each of his seven years in Utah. What they didn’t know was how special and how versatile he could be.
At 6-8, 245, Millsap had the body type and game reminiscent to another Louisiana Tech alum, who also starred for many years in Utah at
the four, Karl Malone. But Millsap did something “The Mailman” was never asked to do, move out to the three-point line, and as a result, had
his most productive year ever behind the arc.
Millsap’s productivity wasn’t just from long range. He was the Hawks’ inside game and its presence both offensively and defensively. He led
the team in scoring (17.9 ppg), rebounding (8.5 rpg, including a career-best 6.4 on the defensive end), steals (1.74 spg, ninth in the entire NBA),
was fourth—tops among non-guards—in assists (3.1 apg), third in steals per game (1.1) and second in blocks (77). He earned the respect of
Eastern Conference coaches, as they selected him to his first All-Star Game, where he scored six points on 3-for-5 shooting, grabbed three
rebounds and handed out an assist in 15 minutes.
He’d finish the season as the only player in the entire NBA to average 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks. It’ll be
interesting to what kind of follow-up season he has to last year’s break-out campaign.